The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow had decided to reciprocate the mass expulsion of its diplomats from Berlin. And the Foreign Ministry said in a statement today (Saturday): The German authorities took another collective expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany, and strongly condemned Berlin's actions that continue to destroy Russian-German relations.
She said: In response to Berlin's hostile actions, the Russian side decided to expel German diplomats from Russia, as well as significantly reduce the maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions in our country. She added that the German ambassador in Moscow was notified of these steps on the fifth of April.
It did not disclose the number of diplomats included in the decision, nor was it clear whether Russian diplomats were still in the country or had already left it.
Relations between Moscow and Berlin, which has been the largest buyer of Russian oil and gas, have been strained since Russia sent its forces to Ukraine in February 2022, and the West responded by imposing sanctions on it.
Against the backdrop of extreme tensions between the two countries in the past, Germany and Russia have repeatedly expelled diplomats from the opposite side and reduced staff in diplomatic missions.
Okaz (Moscow) @okaz_online